Stock Market & Financial Investment News

Nokia price target raised to $11 from $9 at RBC CapitalRBC Capital increased its price target on Nokia as the firm expects the company's networks business to benefit from carriers' upgrade to LTE. RBC Capital thinks that the company will be able to increase its monetization of its technologies assets and benefit from improved growth of its HERE business. The firm keeps an Outperform rating on the shares.

German luxury auto group close to $3B deal for Nokia's HERE, Bloomberg saysA group of German luxury car makers including BMW (BAMXY), Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler (DDAIF), and Audi (AUDVF) are close to an agreement to purchase Nokia's (NOK) digital-maps business HERE for roughly $3B, Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the matter. An official announcement may come as soon as Monday, the report says. Reference Link

Nokia receives European Commission approval for Alcatel-Lucent acquisitionNokia (NOK) announced that it has received approval from the European Commission for its pending acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent (ALU). The proposed transaction was notified to the European Commission on June 19, 2015 and was cleared today without conditions following a Phase 1 review. Approval by the European Commission follows previously disclosed antitrust clearances in Brazil and Serbia and the expiration of the antitrust review period in the United States. In addition, the parties confirmed today they have received further antitrust clearances from Albania, Canada, Colombia and Russia. Both companies will continue to cooperate with the remaining authorities to close their reviews as quickly as possible. The transaction remains subject to approval by Nokia shareholders, Nokia holding over 50.00% of the share capital of Alcatel-Lucent on a fully diluted basis upon completion of the public exchange offer, receipt of other regulatory approvals and other customary conditions. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2016.

Nokia to unveil virtual reality project next week, Re/code reportsNokia plans to unveil its first major virtual reality project next week at a special event in Los Angeles, California, Re/code reports, citing sources familiar with the company's plans. Reference Link

HERE offering free HD map data for automated vehicle testsHERE, a Nokia (NOK) company, announced it is making high-definition mapping data of sections of public roads in four countries available to all automotive companies to support their highly automated vehicle initiatives. HERE is offering HD mapping data of specific stretches of open road in Silicon Valley and Michigan in the United States, as well as in France and Germany, to all carmakers and automotive suppliers for test purposes. HERE plans to offer data for Japan too later this year. HERE is currently working with more than 10 "leading automotive companies" on automated driving projects, the company said. Publicly traded automakers include Fiat Chrysler (FCAU), Ford (F), General Motors (GM), Honda (HMC), Nissan (NSANY), Toyota (TM) and Volkswagen (VLKAY).